Endoscopic devices have been commonly used for various procedures, typically in the abdominal area. Endoscopy is the examination and inspection of the interior of body organs, joints or cavities through an endoscope. Endoscopy allows physicians to peer through the body's passageways. An endoscopic procedure may be used to diagnose various conditions by close examination of internal organ and body structures and may also guide therapy and repair, such as the removal of torn cartilage from the bearing surfaces of a joint. A biopsy, a procedure involving tissue sampling for pathologic testing, may also be performed under endoscopic guidance. For example, endoscopic procedures include the following known procedures: gastroscopy, sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy, esophago gastro duodenoscopy (EGD), endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), and bronchoscopy.
The use of endoscopic treatments has recently increased for some diseases occurring in the gastrointestinal or pancreatobiliary duct systems. Endoscope systems are used frequently for diagnostic procedures, including contrast imaging of biliary or pancreatic ducts. Endoscopes are also used in procedures for retrieving gallstones that exist in the common bile duct and. elsewhere.
Typically, these treatments and procedures are performed in the pancreatic duct, bile duct, and the hepatic duct by positioning the distal end of an endoscope in the vicinity of the duodenal papilla. Once the endoscope is in place, a wire guide is delivered to the target anatomy so that other devices may be guided to a target location in the patient anatomy. This is accomplished by disposing the wire guide through the working channel of the endoscope to the target location. Another device, such as a catheter, may then be disposed over the wire guide through the working channel of the endoscope as needed.
Although many current endoscopic apparatus are adequate, improvements may be made. For example, when a wire guide is disposed through a working channel of an endoscope, the distal portion thereof is placed at a target location in the patient anatomy and the proximal portion normally extends out of the accessory port of the endoscope. Due to the rigid structure of the wire guide and the typical design of the accessory port, the proximal portion of the wire guide typically extends out of the accessory port at an inconvenient position or angle. In many situations, the proximal portion extends relatively horizontal, upward, or in the way of a clinician. This creates a risk of undesirable contact with the clinician. That is, clinicians experience challenges in avoiding inadvertent contact with the proximal portion or end of the wire guide during use, as the wire guide proximally extends through an accessory port of an endoscope.
Thus, there is a need to reduce the risk of undesirable contact with an endoscope wire guide during endoscopy as the wire guide proximally extends through an accessory port of an endoscope.